Kansas Relays
# Kansas Relays

The Kansas Relays are a three-day track meet every April, held at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Since 1923, the Kansas Relays have attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States of America, bringing in athletes ranging from Olympians to high-schoolers. Olympians such as Marion Jones and Maurice Greene compete in the Gold Zone portion of the meet, which attracts thousands of spectators every year. Competitors have also broken world records at the meet. The 2004 Olympic champion, Justin Gatlin, was a prominent athlete to fail a doping test at the Kansas Relays.

## History

The Kansas relays were founded by John H. Outland, the head football coach at the University of Kansas, in 1923. He got the idea for the Kansas Relays from the Penn Relays. The Penn Relays are held at the University of Pennsylvania and is the oldest and largest track meet in the United States. Outland attended the University of Pennsylvania for medical school and where he first saw the Penn relays. John Outland thought that there should be an event like the Penn relays in Kansas so in 1920 he approached Kansas basketball coach Forrest Clare Allen, also known as Phog Allen, who was also the athletic director, football and basketball coach at the University of Kansas. Three years later in 1923 the Kansas relays were founded.

More than 600 athletes participated in the 1st annual Kansas relays on April 20, 1923. During the relays early years the meet featured collegiate athletes in track and field such as Tom Poor, Ed Weir, and Tom Churchill were some of the athletes who later competed in the Olympics. Tom Poor was the first to win the high jump event in Kansas Relays, with a jump of six feet and a quarter inch. He later went on to place fourth in the 1924 Olympics. Ed Weir set a world record for the 120 meter high hurdles at the Kansas Relays in 1926. With world-class athletes competing in the relays, the first decade of the relays paved the way for the Kansas Relays to be a major event in the track and field event in the Mid-West.

1962 was the first year that female athletes were able to compete in the Kansas Relays and by 1976 women were competing in a number of different events. In 1996 a new event was added for women, the pole vault. Stacy Dragila was the first women to win this event and set an American record at the Kansas Relays. In 1997 the Kansas Relays added the 3000 m steeplechase to the women's events.

The Kansas Relays are held normally every year, but were cancelled in 1943, 1944, and 1945 because of World War II; in 1998 and 1998 because Memorial Stadium was being renovated; and in 2020, 2021, and 2022 because of issues presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The last day of the relays was also cancelled in 2022 because of severe weather.

## The Gold Zone

In 2005, the Kansas Relays added a new section: the Gold Zone. The Gold Zone was created because the relays started to lose the interest of spectators and athletes. Tim Weaver, then the meet director, created the Gold Zone to bring in more interest for the Relays and create a three-hour meet-within-a-meet. The Gold Zone was a part of the meet that features some of the best athletes in track and field in the top events. 24,000 spectators came to see former American Olympians, world champions, and top NCAA athletes compete in various events in the first Gold Zone. The events included in the Gold Zone include finals for all the dashes (100m, 400m, hurdles, etc.), 4 × 100 meter relay, 4 × 400 meter relay, the high jump, pole vault, the women's 3000 meter steeplechase and the men's one mile run. Marion Jones, Maurice Greene, Jearl Miles Clark, Amy Acuff, and Nick Hysong are some of the Olympians and world record holders that have competed in the Gold Zone. Gold Zone II drew over 26,000 fans in 2006 making the track meet one of the top ten largest in the world.

## Justin Gatlin doping test

Olympic gold medalist in the 100 meter Justin Gatlin tested positive for testosterone at the Kansas Relays 2006. On April 22, 2006, Justin competed with his teammates, Sprint Capitol, in the 4 × 100 meter race at the Kansas Relays. Justin and his team took first place with a time of 38.16 seconds.

On July 29, 2006, Justin Gatlin announced to the media that he had tested positive for high levels of testosterone at the Kansas Relays. Justin Gatlin was facing a lifetime ban from track and field, because he had already tested positive for an amphetamine 2001 at the Junior Olympics. It was determined that the amphetamine came from a prescription he had been taking for years. Justin avoided the lifetime ban by cooperating with doping authorities. On December 31, 2007, it was announced that Gatlin would be banned from track for four years, which made him ineligible to compete in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

## Meet records

### Men

| Event | Record | Athlete | Nationality | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 100 m | 9.95 (+0.8 m/s) | Ivory Williams | United States | 17 April 2010 |
| 200 m | 20.15 | James Mallard | United States | 19 April 1980 |
| 400 m | 45.12 | Devon Morris | Jamaica | 19 April 1986 |
| 800 m | 1:48.22 | Viktors Lācis | Latvia | 15 April 2000 |
| Wes Santee 1500 m | 3:38.62 | Rick Wohlhuter | United States | 17 April 1976 |
| Glenn Cunningham Mile | 3:54.7 | Jim Ryun | United States | 15 April 1967 |
| 5000 m | 13:40.35 | Kipsubai Koskei | Kenya | 19 April 1980 |
| 10000 m | 28:56.9 | Simon Kilili | United States | 15 April 1978 |
| 110 m hurdles | 13.26 | Antwon Hicks | United States | 19 April 2008 |
| 400 m hurdles | 48.20 | Bershawn Jackson | United States | 21 April 2012 |
| 3000 m steeplechase | 8:33.7 | Randy Smith | United States | 17 April 1976 |
| High jump | 2.31 m (7 ft 6 in) | Hollis Conway | United States | 18 April 1987 |
| Pole vault | 5.91 m (19 ft 4 in) | Joe Dial | United States | 16 April 1983 |
| Long jump | 8.14 m (26 ft 8 in) | Kenny Harrison | United States | 18 April 1987 |
| Triple jump | 17.04 m (55 ft 10 in) | Kenny Harrison | United States | 13 April 1986 |
| Shot put | 22.67 m (74 ft 4 in) | Kevin Toth | United States | 19 April 2003 |
| Discus throw | 67.13 m (220 ft 2 in) | Mason Finley | United States | 19 April 2019 |
| Hammer throw | 78.04 m (256 ft 0 in) | Gleb Dudarev | Belarus | 20 April 2018 |
| Javelin throw | 81.96 m (268 ft 10 in) | Scott Russell | Canada | 22 April 2011 |
| Decathlon | 8380 pts | Steve Fritz | United States | 1997 |
| Decathlon | 100m (wind) Long jump (wind) Shot put High jump 400m 110H (wind) Discus Pole vault Javelin 1500m | 100m (wind) Long jump (wind) Shot put High jump 400m 110H (wind) Discus Pole vault Javelin 1500m | 100m (wind) Long jump (wind) Shot put High jump 400m 110H (wind) Discus Pole vault Javelin 1500m | 100m (wind) Long jump (wind) Shot put High jump 400m 110H (wind) Discus Pole vault Javelin 1500m |
| 4 × 100 m relay | 38.16 | Sprint Capitol Dwight Thomas Rodney Martin Shawn Crawford Justin Gatlin | Jamaica United States United States United States | 22 April 2006 |
| 4 × 200 m relay | 1:21.55 | Philadelphia Pioneers Steve Riddick Fred Taylor Herman Frazier Tony Darden | United States United States United States United States | 18 April 1980 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | 3:03.67 | Philadelphia Pioneers Tim Dale Fred Taylor Herman Frazier Tony Darden | United States United States United States United States | 19 April 1980 |
| 4 × 800 m relay | 7:21.2 | Oklahoma State Jim Metcalf John Perry Tom Von Ruden Dave Perry | United States | 17 April 1965 |
| Distance medley relay | 9:20.10 | University of Arkansas Reuben Reina Charles Williams Robert Bradley Joe Falcon | United States United States United States United States | 15 April 1989 |
| 4 × 110m Shuttle hurdles relay | 57.69 | University of Nebraska David Davis Nenad Lončar Courtney Jones Andy Nelson | United States Serbia United States United States | 19 April 2003 |

### Women

| Event | Record | Athlete | Nationality | Date |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 100 m | 11.04 | Allyson Felix | United States | 22 April 2006 |
| 200 m | 22.32 (+0.9 m/s) | Veronica Campbell Brown | Jamaica | 17 April 2010 |
| 400 m | 51.19 | Mary Wineberg | United States | 21 April 2007 |
| 800 m | 2:01.30 | LeAnn Warren | United States | 18 April 1981 |
| 1500 m | 4:08.94 | Nadezhda Ralldugina | Soviet Union | 16 April 1983 |
| 5000 m | 15:42.76 | Sharon Lokedi | United States | 20 April 2018 |
| 10000 m | 34:41.33 | Amber Anderson | United States | 15 April 1995 |
| 100 m hurdles | 12.72 | Nichole Denby | United States | 21 April 2007 |
| 400 m hurdles | 55.67 | Nawal El Moutawakel | Morocco | 21 April 1984 |
| 3000 m steeplechase | 10:07.30 | Trina Cox | United States | 21 April 2007 |
| High jump | 1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄4 in) | Julieanne Broughton | United States | 21 April 1990 |
| Pole vault | 4.50 m (14 ft 9 in) | Kylie Hudson | United States | 16 April 2011 |
| Long jump | 6.68 m (21 ft 10+3⁄4 in) | Elva Goulbourne | Jamaica | 19 April 2008 |
| Triple jump | 14.88 m (48 ft 9+3⁄4 in) | Trecia Smith | Jamaica | 20 April 2002 |
| Shot put | 17.39 m (57 ft 1⁄2 in) | Kearsten Peoples | United States | 21 April 2012 |
| Discus throw | 60.94 m (199 ft 11 in) | Penny Neer | United States | 20 April 1991 |
| Hammer throw | 69.66 m (228 ft 6 in) | Amber Campbell | United States | 20 April 2013 |
| Javelin throw | 58.73 m (192 ft 8 in) | Dana Olson | United States | 17 April 1982 |
| Heptathlon | 5740 pts | Liz Roehrig | United States | 2008 |
| Heptathlon | 100m H (wind) High jump Shot put 200m (wind) Long jump (wind) Javelin 800m | 100m H (wind) High jump Shot put 200m (wind) Long jump (wind) Javelin 800m | 100m H (wind) High jump Shot put 200m (wind) Long jump (wind) Javelin 800m | 100m H (wind) High jump Shot put 200m (wind) Long jump (wind) Javelin 800m |
| 4 × 100 m relay | 43.94 | University of Nebraska Janet Burke Rhonda Blanford Angela Thacker Merlene Ottey | Jamaica United States United States Jamaica | 16 April 1983 |
| 4 × 200 m relay | 1:33.63 | Barton County CC Sonia Williams Natalee Sterling Mikessia Triplette Aleen Bailey | Antigua and Barbuda Jamaica United States Jamaica | 21 April 2000 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | 3:31.87 | University of Kansas Denesha Morris Paris Daniels Shayla Wilson Diamond Dixon | Jamaica United States United States United States | 21 April 2012 |
| 4 × 800 m relay | 8:46.62 | Villanova University Mary Ellen McGowan Debbie Grant Joanne Kehs Veronica McIntosh | United States | 21 April 1984 |
| Distance medley relay | 11:32.61 | University of Michigan Jessica Kluge Richelle Webb Karen Harvey Molly McClimon | United States United States Canada United States | 17 April 1993 |
| 4 × 100m Shuttle hurdles relay | 54.02 | University of Nebraska | | 20 April 2001 |
